Automatic tapping or drilling machine



Feb. 5, 1935. w. KABBEL 1,990,188.

AUTOMATIC TP1 ING OR DRILLING MACHINE Filed July 26, 195.3 5 Sheets-Shet 1 .1 w W v a 56 55 /9 26 47 5/ g r 6. z; 4w .9 F3; ig 5% Feb. 5, 1935. w. KABBEL 1,990,183

AUTOMATIC TAPPING OR DRILLING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 727' ll o 22 Q2 5 V /.9 f9 60 K mmmllllliilm- 4/5 Feb. 5, 1935. w. K ABBEL 1,990,183

AUTOMATIC TAPPiNG OR DRILLING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 g 7 7' 5: 4 .Q L g\ g gr/111mm Patented Feb. 5, 1935 uNirEosTAr AUTOMATIC TAPPING OR DRILLING M C INE William Kabbel, Milwaukee, Wis. Application July 26, 1933, Serial No. seams Claims. (01. 10- -'1'3i;)'

I nately released to permit feeding the work to they tool and delivering the same therefrom.

Heretofore machines of this general type have embodied a single working unit, comprising one working tool. Therefore it is the primary object of the present invention to improvesaid machines by the provision of a plurality of working units mounted upon a revolvable v drum, and adapted to have the work fed progressively to the units and progressively discharged, thus materially" increasing production, with possible reduction in the speed of the working units,ir desired, thereby prolonging the life of the tools, and eliminating the necessity of frequent replacement.

Incidental to the foregoing, a more specific ob ject resides in the provision of an apparatus comprising a rotatable support, having mounted thereon a purality of working units of thetype described, in combination with means forfeeding the work' to the units as the support revolves, and actuating the working units during'the revolution of the support, during which revolution the working operation is performed and the Work successively discharged from the working units. A further object resides in the provision of positive means for preventing shifting of the working worn-pan release of the same by either of the end driving chucks.

A still further object is to provide positive means for stripping the work from the tool upon completion of the working operation and release of the tool at its rear end. H

Another object resides in the novel form of be readily varied to compensate for different classes of work. i I j Lastlyyit is an object to provide for chamfering the work during the working operation.

'With'the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention residesin the novel construction,

. combination and arrangement of parts, substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly'defined by the appended claims it' being understood that such changes'in the precise embodiinerit hf the herein disclosed invention may be made as "come'withinthe scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawings is illustrated one-eomplete example of the physicalembodi-' mentet-the present invention constructed ac-' shaft" 12, outside of the end support 11, is;a;wor

cording to the best mode so far, devised for the practicalapplication of the principles thereof.

In the drawingsi- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through ;a--

machine constructed in accordance with the preso ent invention. i I I FigureZ is a fragmentary plan section taken on the line 22 of Figure Figure 3 is a vertical, transverse section taken! on the line 3-3 of Figurel. a :s lO Figure a is a fragmentary detail section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1. v Figurefi is a fragmentarysection through the end'of one of the driving spindles.

Figure 6 is anend elevation; partly in section, -1.5

as indicated by line 66 of Figure 1, and I Figure. 7 is an enlarged detail of one form of e working tool, and the end drivingxQhuckaand spindles, thework being shownon thetool.

Referring nowmore particularlyto the accom- 1 .20 panying drawings, wherein the invention has been illustrated as applied to continuous; tapping of nuts, it is to be clearly understood that,the :princi'-., ples embodied therein can be readily utilized for,

theftappi'ngv of various articles of irregularshapee and contour, and also for the drilling oivariousg articles. without departing from the inventioni'i- With particular reference to Figure 1,,the ;nu-

meral 1Q designates a baseprovided with verticalendsupp'orts 1 1, in which a main shaft 12.;is suit-- ably journaled. Secured upon one end of th gear' 13 engaged by theworm 1 4 mounted -uponthe drive shaft-15, which is preferably.-- drivenby th. e metor 16 mounted upon a suitable support 17 projecting from theuprightll, thusservin to t p imparrmtauon to the mainshaft 12,, hichin drive for the revolvable member and the Work& ing units, whereby the speed of operation may construction, inasmuch as its only function and purpose is to support the working units as hereinafter described. Secured to the outer face of 3 the revolvable support 18, at spaced intervals, is a plurality of working units designated in general by the 'numeral 19, and each comprising a plate 20 secured tothe outer face of the support 18, in any suitable manner, and providedwith spaced, longitudinal guides 21 for the work 22, which in the. present instance is illustrated as conventional. nuts, although other forms of work may be acmanner to the end supports 11.

commodated with variations in the form of guides employed.

Positioned adjacent the forward and rear ends of the guides 21 are spindles 23 and 24, respectively, which are journaled in the brackets 25' secured to the outer face of the support 18 in central alinement with the spaced guides 21, the spindles being provided with gears 26 projecting through slots 2'7 formed in the drum. 18, and engaging the gears 28 securedto the main drive shaft 12. As best shown in Figure 5, the gears 26 are keyed on the spindles 23 and24 to permit.

longitudinal movement of the spindles, this being obtained by means of the spanner rings 29 secured to the outer ends of the spindles and engaged by the spanners 30, which in turn project through longitudinal slots 31 provided in the drum 18.

The shanks of the spanners are provided with flanged extensions 32 slidably engaged in spaced,

channeledguides 33', secured to the inner face:

of the drum 18, whilethe inner ends of the shanks 30'are provided with rollers 34, which travel in the grooves 35 of the annular cam members 36, which are stationary and secured in any suitable Obviously, as the drum rotates about the stationary earns 36, the cam tracks 35 will cause the spanners 30 to be reciprocated, which in turn imparts reciprocative movement tothe spindles 23 and 24, at suitable intervals, as will be later described in connection with the operation of the apparatus.

In order to impart rotary movement to the support18, an internal gear 37 is'provided at one end; which is connected thru a pair of gears38 carried by the end'support 11 with a gear 39 secured on the main drive shaft 12, two gears being employed in order to impart movement in the desired direction.- In connection with this arrangement of drive it is pointed out that the speed of rotation of the drum 18 can be readily varied, to compen-' sate for different classes of work, by merely changing the gear ratio between "the internal gear 37 and the drive.

From the foregoing explanation, it will be readily seen that drive imparted through the motor-driven worm 14,- and worm gear 13, to the shaft 12, will cause rotation of the drum 18 f through the gears39, 38, and 37, and as the drum 18 rotates, the gears 26 will have a planetary movement about the gears 28, imparting rotation to the spindles 23 and 24. However, inasv much as it is desired to drive the gears 26 at a relatively high rate of speed, essential to the working operation, the gears 28, instead of being stationary, are mounted upon the shaft 12, and are rotatedin the direction of rotation of the druni'at a greater speed than the speed of the drum.

Considering again the tapping or working operation, with particular reference to Figures 1 and 7, it will be noted that the ends of the spindles 23 and 24 are provided with chucks 40, having tapered recesses 41 for reception of the tapered ends 42 of the tap or tool 43. In order to feed the work or nuts 22 to the tap 43, when a working unit'19 is alined with the hopper 44, positioned above the drum 13, and supported by the bracket 45 secured to one of the end uprights 11, the cam track 35 is so formed as to cause the spindle 23 to be drawn outwardly, withdrawing its chuck 40 from the forward end of the tool 43, whereupon a nut 22 is deposited upon the plate 20, between the guides 21, by gravity, after which the spindle 23 is moved forwardly to engage the nut'and force the same upon the end of the tool 43 until 1,990,188 l k v A the work is engaged by the tap threads, which perform the tapping operation. When this is completed the remaining threads on the tool carry the nut rearwardly towards the discharge end of the tool. Rotation of the drum is so timed that;

the work is fed to the tool in the spaced relation." shown. This prevents any binding or jamming of" adjacent pieces of work on the tool, and further facilitates holding the tool against longitudinal. movement as the front and rearward chucks are withdrawn. This is accomplished during with- 'drawal of the front chuck by a spring finger 46. carried by the hopper 44 and adapted to engage: between a pair of adjacent work pieces, as best;

shown in Figure l, the finger being also indicated 'in Figure 2, and being inclined at a slight angle in the direction of feed of the work, the work is permitted to pass the finger-as it is fed along the 7 tool, and the unit rotates.-

The same operation is accomplished during withdrawal of the" rearchuck, when a finished piece of workis delivered therefrom, which in the present instancetakes place at the lowermost position of the working unit, a finger 46 secured to the base 10 functioning in the same manner as'the finger 46.

During the working operation, which takes place as the working units rotate from thefeeding postion at the top of the drum, to the de-.

livery point at the botom of the drum, rotation of the tool 43 is so timed as to feed the work one-half the distance of its length. :Therefore, "a complete revolution of the drumis required to'feed the work one length in order that a' new nut may be fed to the tool upon each complete revolution, and at the same 'time the delivery of one nut during a complete revolution.

In some instances, particularly infconnection with nuts, it is desirable to chamfer their faces to remove burrs formed by the end threads, and,

therefore, in order to accomplishthis the chucks 40 are provided with cutting members 47 at.

their inner ends, the same being 'slidably mounted and yieldably projected by springs 48 disposed between the chucks'and cutting mem bers.

In operationwhen a nut the nut is engaged by the cutting member and forced over the end of the tool 43 until engaged by the tap" threads. Furthermovement of the chuck creates pressure upon the cutting member, which causes its cutting face to chamfer the engaged face of the nut, it being understood that the movement of the chuck is slightly faster than the feed of the nut upon the tap threads.

After a nut has been fed rearwardly upon the has been delivered f I to the plate 20, and the spindle moves forwardly,

tool, and before the same has left the last thread;

'of the tool,'it engages the cutter 47 carried by the rear chuck, which then chamfers the opposite face of the nut, the cutter being forced against the work during its final movement'by the spring Approximately at the time at which the work V is about to leave the threads of the tool, the same is engaged by the camplate 49 secured to the base 10, the same projecting into the spacing Obviously, the taper provided at the ment'by, the chuck, but'also reduces the possibility of binding and sticking between the chucks and tool, asthe. chucks are withdrawn.

It will also be noted that the feed threads,

that the feeding action'results from the fact that the nuts are held against rotation by the plate 2.0: and, the guides 21 as the tool rotates.

' In order to provide forthe successive feeding of'a piece of work to each working unit, as,

the sameiis alined with the hopper 44, a spiral track connects each unit with the adjacent unit, as best shown in Figure- 3, and it will be noted that the forward end ofthe bottom of the track, which'may .be provided withside walls 51, is alined with the'bottom of the nutsupported by the lower nutdelivered to theprecedingworking unit. Then, as thev drum revolves, the track rides under the second nut and gradually permits the same to be lowered to alinement with the following unit, thus providing a positive feed of the nuts to the working unit, with the'elimination of springs, levers, or other moving parts.

Whileit is believed that the operation of the. invention will be quite apparent from the foregoing explanation, a complete resume includes feeding work pieces to the hopper 14, which may be, of anydesired construction, and in the event that articles of varying shapes and contours are to be operated upon, naturally, agitating means, orthe like, may be employed to insure the articles being fed to the machine in the proper position. From the hopper the work is fed to the individual work units, in the present instance by gravity, and after one piece of work has been fed to a unit, the succeeding pieces are supported by the track 50, and each piece is delivered successively to a work unit as the same alines with the hopper. As the work is delivered from the hopper, the cam track 35, provided in the stationary cam 36 at the forward end of the machine, causes the spanner to withdraw the spindle 23 and its chuck to clear the work. As the drum continues to rotate the spindle is moved against the work through the action of the cam 36, the cutter 4'7 carried by the chuck 40 engaging the work and forcing the same upon the tool until engaged by the working portion of the tool, at which time chamfering of one face of the work takes place, in the event it is desired to perform this operation. Otherwise, the cutter 47 may be eliminated. The work is then tapped or drilled, after which the same is fed along the tool, in the present instance by threads, while in other cases, such as drilling, the work may be chucked and held and the tool fed forwardly.

When the work has reached the rear end of the tool, the machine is so timed that the work is engaged by the cam strip 49, and the rear spindle 24 is then withdrawn in the manner heretofore described, allowing the cam'plate 49 to strip the work from its spindle.

The operation of each unit is the same, and inasmuch as each piece of work is fed one length during a complete operation, each unit is capable of completing one piece of work during one revolution.

It will be quite apparent from the foregoing explanation, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, that a comparatively simple and efficient machine has been devised for the automatic tapping orfdrilling of work of various kinds, in which the-operations are entirely automatic and positive, and which is capable of the capacity, equaltothe same number of separate machines as working units provided. Furthermore, due to the fact that the working operation takes place during the revolution of the units, the speedo-f such operation can be reduced to a minimum, thereby reducing .wear on the'workingtools, and eliminating frequent replacement. I r

I claim: 1. A machineof the class described, comprising a rotatable carriage, a plurality of spaced working units mounted on said carriage, each unit comprisinga tool and a work-guide, chucks for detachably engaging the ends of said tools, means forgimparting rotary movement to said chucks,

and means for alternately withdrawing said chucks at differentpositions of the workingunits.

2; A machine of the class described, comprising a rotatable carriagea'plurality of spaced working units mounted on said carriage, each unitcomprisinga tool and a work guide, chucks for detachably engaging the ends of said tool, means'for imparting rotary movement to said chucks, meansfor alternately withdrawing said chucks at differentpositions of the working unit, and meansfor engaging the work on said tool during the withdrawal of each chuck for preventing longitudinal movement of said tool.

3. -A machine of the class described, comprising "a rotatable carriage, a plurality of spaced Working units mounted on said carriage, each unit comprising a tool and a work guide, chucks for detachably engaging the ends of said tool, means for imparting rotary movement to said chucks, means for alternately withdrawing said chucks at different positions of the working unit to permit feeding of work pieces to the tool and discharging the same therefrom, means for engaging the work on said tool during the withdrawal of each chuck for preventing longitudinal I movement of said tool, means for feeding pieces of work to said units, and means extending between the units for supporting pieces of work during rotation of said carriage and permitting delivery of the same to said working units.

4, Amachine of the class described, comprising a rotatable carriage, a plurality of spaced working units mounted on said carriage, each unit comprising a tool and a work guide, spindles journaled at the opposite ends of said tool, tool-engaging chucks carried by the spindles,

means for alternately reciprocating said spindles, means for rotating said carriage, and means conone of the spindles is withdrawn, and means for discharging work from said tool when the opposite spindle is withdrawn.

6. A machine of the class described, comprising a rotatable carriage, a plurality of spaced working units mounted on said carriage, each unit comprising a tool and a work guide, spin- 4 dles journaled at the opposite ends of said tool, tool-engaging chucks carried by the spindles,

means for alternately reciprocating saidspin dles; means for rotating .said carriage, means,

connected with thecarriage'drive for driving said spindles; means for feeding work to said tool when-one of the spindlesis withdrawn, means for discharging work from said tool when the opposite spindle is withdrawn, and means for engaging the Work during the withdrawal of each spindle to prevent longitudinal movement of said tool.

'7. A machine of the class described, comprise:

ing "a rotatable carriage, a plurality of spaced working units mounted on said carriage, each unit comprising a tool and a work guide, chucks for detachably engaging-the ends of said tools, a cutter carried by one of said chucks for cham- V fering' the face of said work,'means for imparting rotary .movement'to saidchucks,- and means for alternately drawing. said chucks at different positions of the working units.

B. A machine of. the class described comprisinga rotatable carriage,' a plurality of spaced working units mounted on said carriage, each working unit comprising a tool and a work guide,

chucks for detachably engaging theends of said tools, means for feeding pieces of work to one end of said tool, includinga spiral sector adapted to support the work and guide the same into alinement with said tool at 'a fixed point in the cycle of rotation of said tool, and means for alternately withdrawing said chucks at different positions of the working units to permit feeding of the work-to said tools and delivery there from. g i V 9. ,A machine of the class described comprising a rotatable carriage, a plurality of spaced working units mounted onsaidficarriage, each unit comprising a tool, chucks for detachably engaging the ends of said tools, means for imparting rotary movement to said chucks upon rotation of said carriage, means foralternately withdrawing said chucks at different positions of the working units to permit feeding of work pieces to vthe tool and discharging the same therefrom, *and a cutteriyieldably carried by one of said chucks for engaging the face of said work. r

10. A. machine of the class described compris ing a rotatable "carriage, a. plurality of spaced gitudinal movement of said tool, and means for feeding pieces "of work to said units, including a spiral track for supporting the workpieces and guiding the same to alinement with said toolduring rotation of said carriage. v vi WILLIAM KABBEL. 

